Primary Sleep Disorders And Idiopathic Insomnia example essay topic

Insomnia Insomnia means having trouble with the quality or quantity of sleep. It can be caused by difficulties in either falling asleep or staying asleep. Self-reported sleeping problems, hating the sleep quality and day time tiredness are the only defining characteristics of insomnia because it is such an individual experience. The concept of good sleep is different from person to person.

While the average night's sleep for an adult is around seven or eight hours, some people only need four, while others like up to 10 hours or more. What seems like insomnia to one person might be considered a good sleep by another (Florence Cardinal, Your Guide to Sleep Disorders.) There are three types of insomnia: Secondary insomnia, Primary sleep disorders, and Idiopathic insomnia. Secondary insomnia is due to a range of medical and psychiatric problems and the chronic use of drugs and alcohol. Primary sleep disorders include circadian rhythm disorders, central sleep apnoea-insomnia syndrome, inadequate sleep syndromes and periodic limb movement or restless legs syndromes. Idiopathic insomnia is sleeplessness without a known cause, formerly called childhood onset insomnia. (Defined by Florence Cardinal, Your Guide to Sleep Disorders.) In this paper I will try to go over all the causes, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of insomnia.

I will go over all the many people who suffer from insomnia and why? The topic is something I understand somewhat because I have suffered from this sense the year 2000. Hopefully I will be able to inform and maybe understand this problem better with this research. A reaction to change or stress is one of the most common causes of short term insomnia which includes an acute illness, injury or surgery, the loss of a loved one, job loss, extremes in the weather, an exam, traveling, or trouble at work the list can go on and on.

In most cases, normal sleep almost always returns when the condition resolves, the individual recovers from the event, or the person becomes accustomed to the new situation (Lamberg &Smolensky, 2000.) Then there is real insomnia or what doctors call Psycho physiologic insomnia which could happen if the short term insomnia is not solved. In many cases, it is unclear if chronic insomnia is a symptom of some physical or psychological condition or if it is a primary disorder of its own, (Lamberg &Smolensky, 2000) in most instances, a collaboration of psychological and physical conditions causes the failure to sleep. According to the National Center on Sleep Disorders Research, Chronic insomnia is more complex and often results from a combination of factors, including underlying physical or mental disorders. One of the most common causes of chronic insomnia is depression. Other causes include arthritis, kidney disease, heart failure, asthma, sleep apnea, narcolepsy, restless legs syndrome, Parkinson's disease, and hyperthyroidism. However, chronic insomnia may also be due to behavioral factors, including the misuse of caffeine, alcohol, or other substances; disrupted sleep and wake cycles may occur with shift work or other nighttime activity schedules and chronic stress (National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke National Institutes of Health.) Risk factor studies estimate that between a quarter and one-third of American and European adults experience some insomnia each year, with between 10% and 20% of them suffering severe sleeplessness.

In spite of this widespread problem, however, studies suggest that only about 30% of American adults who visit their doctor ever discuss sleep problems. Conversely, physicians seem rarely to ask patients about their sleep habits or problems. A 2003 University of Maryland Medical Center study suggested that there were seven significant factors that predicted who would be at high risk for insomnia: Being older, having conflicts with relatives, overworked at a job, at home, taking care of a sick loved one, low social status, and having psychiatric and psychologic problem. Overall, insomnia is more common in women than men, although men are not immune from insomnia. Sleep efficiency deteriorates equally in men and women as they get older. It is not clear why young adult women suffer more from insomnia than young adult men.

According to the University of Maryland Medical Center, the health problems that a person can receive from insomnia varies on the person but a 2002 study of sleeping habits in over one million people reported that people who slept seven hours a night enjoyed the longest life. Those who slept 8 hours or more or 6 hours or less had higher mortality rates. People with insomnia did not have elevated mortality rates, which supported earlier evidence. People who took sleeping pills, however, did have lower survival rates. Insomnia is virtually never lethal except in rare cases, such the genetic disorder called fatal familial insomnia. This rare degenerative brain disease develops in late adulthood.

It is progressive and the individual develops intractable insomnia, which eventually becomes fatal. Insomnia also affects the person's mood and quality of life. According to the University of Maryland Medical Center other surveys in 2001 and 2002 reported that people with severe insomnia had a quality of life that was almost as poor as in people with chronic conditions such as heart failure. Another survey in 2001 and 2002 reported that people with severe insomnia had a quality of life that was almost as poor as in people with chronic conditions such as heart failure.

Insomniacs also experience more irritability, mistakes at work, and poorer relationships with their family than people who sleep well. Effects on the physical health on the Heart, although there has been some concern that insomnia may increase the risk for heart problems, little evidence has supported any significant dangers. One study reported signs of heart and nervous system activity in people with chronic insomnia that might place such individuals at risk for coronary heart disease. If it exists, however, this increased danger is very modest compared with other risk factors for heart disease.

Yet another report suggested that sleep complaints in elderly people without coronary artery disease predicted a first heart attack. Sleep disorders in such cases may have been a marker for depression, however, which is a risk factor for heart attacks in elderly people. Effects on the Immune System were also reported in a 2003 study which stated significant differences in immune factors among sleepers, with higher levels of certain infection-fighters observed in good sleepers than in people with chronic insomnia. The significance of these findings is still unknown, however. According to the University of Maryland Medical Center, Diagnosing sleep disturbance and its cause is the most important step in restoring healthy sleep. There is little agreement, even among experts, however, on the best methods for effectively assessing a patient's insomnia.

A major difficulty in diagnosing this problem is its subjective nature. One study showed that there was no difference in sleep behaviors between people who said they were insomniacs and people who said they weren't. People who believe they have insomnia may have actually had frequent brief awakenings during sleep that they perceive as being continuously awake. Some experts recommend, however that any individual should be treated aggressively if he or she believes they have insomnia and also is suffering daytime fatigue and impaired concentration and memory. According to A.D.A.M., Inc.

Treatment or Prevention of sleeplessness is very much dependent upon the patient's ability to relax and learn the art of sleeping well. A number of behavioral methods are aimed at achieving these goals. Behavioral techniques can actually cure chronic insomnia and studies report their effectiveness in nearly all patients with primary chronic insomnia. Although medications are equally effective for helping people with insomnia to sleep, behavioral methods act faster. Behavioral methods are effective in all age groups, including elderly patients. In addition, medications cannot cure this condition and prolonged use frequently results in dependency.

Studies have reported that between 70% and 80% of those who are treated with non-drug methods experience improved sleep with average treatment duration of only five hours over a four-week period. Furthermore, studies report that 75% of those who have been taking drugs are able to stop or reduce their use. Some alternative approaches that may be helpful for some patients include hypnosis, meditation, guided imagery and other imagery methods, and acupuncture. One study reported some benefits from pulses of weak electromagnetic fields applied to the brain. According to the American Academy of Sleep Medicine many cases of insomnia will respond to changes that you can make on your own. You can often sleep better by simply following the practices of good sleep hygiene.

Sleep hygiene consists of basic habits and tips that help you develop a pattern of healthy sleep. There are also easy ways to make your bed and your bedroom more comfortable. You can seek help from a therapist if stress or depression is the cause of your sleep problems. The doctor may determine that the symptoms need to be treated with medication. When self-treatment does not work, a doctor can provide help. Doctors can teach you different ways to improve your sleep.

An example of this is to use relaxation exercises when you go to bed. They can also help you find ways to take your mind off of sleep. Staying out of bed until you are very, very sleepy is helpful too. These methods are a part of what is known as behavioral therapy. A doctor may also prescribe sleeping pills to help improve your sleep.

These pills are called hypnotics. You should only take sleeping pills when supervised by a doctor. According to A.D.A.M., Inc, In sleep studies, subjects spend about one-third of their time asleep, suggesting that most people need about eight hours of sleep each day. Individual adults differ in the amount of sleep they need to feel well rested, however. (Infants may sleep as many as 16 hours a day.) The daily cycle of life, which includes sleeping and waking, is called a circadian (meaning 'about a day') rhythm, commonly referred to as the biologic clock. Hundreds of bodily functions follow biologic clocks, but sleeping and waking comprise the most prominent circadian rhythm.

The sleeping and waking cycle is approximately 24 hours. (If confined to windowless apartments, with no clocks or other time cues, sleeping and waking as their bodies dictate, humans typically live on slightly longer than 24-hour cycles.) Sleep consists of two distinct states that alternate in cycles and reflect differing levels of brain nerve cell activity: Non-Rapid Eye Movement Sleep (NonREM). NonREM sleep is also termed quiet sleep. NonREM is further subdivided into three stages of progression: light sleep, so called true sleep, and deep slow wave or delta sleep. According to the University of Maryland Medical Center, REM sleep is termed active sleep.

Most vivid dreams occur in REM sleep. REM-sleep brain activity is comparable to that in waking, but the muscles are virtually paralyzed, possibly preventing people from acting out their dreams. In fact, except for vital organs like lungs and heart, the only muscles not paralyzed during REM are the eye muscles. REM sleep may be critical for learning and for day-to-day mood regulation. When people are sleep-deprived, their brains must work harder than when they are well rested.

According to Erica Heilman of Healthy sleeping. com hygiene is really the development of good sleep habits. This refers to doing things like going to bed at the same time every night, getting up at the same time every morning, no matter what happened the night before. For most people, avoiding daytime naps, avoiding stimulants such as caffeine and nicotine, avoiding alcohol just prior to bedtime are all part of good sleep hygiene. Although alcohol is a sedative, it can really disrupt sleep. It's also important not to go to bed too hungry or too full, as both of those conditions can disturb sleep. And also making sure that one's environment is conducive to sleep-sleeping in a room that is dark, quiet, temperature controlled, humidity-controlled, and in a bed and surroundings that one finds comfortable.

The Harvard Health Letter states that a big problem with insomnia is that patients continue striving to treat the insomnia but do nothing to treat the depression. The insomnia may subside for a brief period but will generally return and may be worse than before. If patients seek treatment for their depression first and then work on establishing better sleep habits, then the whole problem of insomnia may completely go away (1998). The difficulty many patients have when dealing with both depression and insomnia is determining which is causing the other. For instance, if a person is suffering from insomnia, the lack of sleep may also cause some feelings of depression. At the same time if a person is suffering from depression they have insomnia as a result of that depression.

It is important to seek medical advice when having feelings of worthlessness or overwhelming sadness. Insomnia isn't funny people suffer through a lot of pain and no sleep because of this disorder. Family member have to deal with their loved ones being sick. It is said in all the articles I used that more and more each year they are finding more causes of insomnia and more people suffer from it. I have learned from doing this research paper that insomnia really is a difficult disorder to have to live with. I know I live with it on a regular basis, by doing this paper I learned more things I never thought I could learn about insomnia.

The research that I've done has opened my eyes on what is wrong and how it can be treated. We need to take care of our bodies, our minds and ourselves. We need to exercise right, at appropriate times, sleep at the right time and never get ourselves so stressed out that we can't sleep at night. Insomnia can affect a person really fast and it's hard to get rid of this disorder without a lot of effort.

If we follow the advice of the doctor's and begin to live a structured life all could be well.

Bibliography

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